Urban Legends

The Death Cab

Origin: Argentina

The Death Cab is a spooky urban legend from Argentina about a taxi that is said to lurk outside the cemeteries, waiting for an unwitting victim to step inside so it can take them on a chilling journey to their doom.

In Argentina, there is an urban legend that has spread by word of mouth. People take taxis every day. It's something you do almost without thinking. If it is late or it is raining, you might hail a cab to take you to your destination.

However, in Argentina, they say that you should never hail a cab outside a cemetery. If you do, you may unknowingly be stepping into the dreaded "Taxi de los muertos" - The Death Cab.

Legend has it that this supernatural taxi of death lurks outside cemeteries, waiting for an unwitting victim to get inside. As the story goes, a young Argentinian woman named Claudia was on her way home one night. She had left work quite late and it was raining heavily. She was too tired to walk all the way to her apartment, so she decided to take a taxi home instead.

As she walked down the lonely street that led past the cemetery, she suddenly saw a taxi coming towards her. She held out her hand and hailed the cab. When it stopped, she climbed in and gave the driver her address.

Sitting in the back seat, wiping the rain from her brow, she suddenly began to feel very cold - much colder than she had ever felt before. Looking around, she noticed that the windows were covered with ice. It was then that she realized they were going the wrong way.

She was about to say something to the driver when she caught sight of his hands on the steering wheel. His skin was pale and leathery and his fingers were almost skeletal. She couldn't see his face in the rearview mirror.

"We're going the wrong way," she blurted out.

The driver didn't answer. He just kept on driving as if he hadn't heard her.

When she raised her hand to touch his shoulder, the driver slowly turned his head. Claudia screamed in horror. His face looked like a corpse. The skin was withered and clung tightly to the bones.

She tried to open the back door and jump out, but the door handle came off in her hands. She tried to put the window down but the button didn't work. She saw a young couple walking down the street, so she shouted to them and banged on the window, trying to attract their attention. They didn't hear her.

The taxi continued on its way, seemingly unstoppable.

Claudia became frantic. Desperate to escape, she attacked the driver and tried to scratch his face with her nails. His rotten skin came off in her hands, revealing the gleaming skull underneath.

The taxi began to speed up, going faster and faster along the rain-soaked city streets. Claudia looked behind her and on the back window she saw a sign that read:

"Prepare to die!"

Claudia was never seen again.

No one knows for certain whether or not this urban legend is true. The only ones who know for sure are the people who have been kidnapped by the death cab and they can never tell us what happened to them. But just in case, take care, and if you are walking by a cemetery, never ever call a cab.